HP: I AM SHERLOCK HOLMES

In the 1992-1993 school year, when Malfoy’s father donated seven Nimbus 2001 broomsticks to the Slytherin Quidditch team, Sherlock noticed Harry’s concern and took time to conduct a data comparison between the Nimbus 2000 and Nimbus 2001.

Sure enough, after seeing the data comparison between the two models, Harry’s confidence soared. He performed exceptionally well and defeated the Slytherin Quidditch team.

While conducting the data comparison, Sherlock also took the opportunity to research the previous products in the Nimbus series and learn about the Nimbus company itself.

In the history of flying broomstick development, the Nimbus series is considered one of the finest flying broomsticks, produced by the Nimbus Flying Broomstick Company, established in 1967.

Each time a Nimbus series broomstick appeared, it represented the best overall performance broomstick on the market.

However, Sherlock’s reason for saying the Nimbus company’s CEO had exquisite business acumen was because the performance layout of the Nimbus series broomsticks was well-balanced, rarely allowing lower-tier brooms to outperform higher-tier ones.

Contemporary flying broomsticks had different positioning and basically didn’t interfere with each other—some focused on stability, others on flying speed, and others on agility.

The data for the Nimbus 2000, Nimbus 2001, and Nimbus 2001 Super fully illustrated this point.

However, Sherlock frowned slightly. Based on the Nimbus 2001 Super’s data improvement over the Nimbus 2000, this price increase seemed somewhat low.

Logically, even if they didn’t increase the price by 30%, they should have raised it by at least 20%. This time, they only increased it by 15%.

Unless...

As he pondered, he saw a group of wizards excitedly rushing toward them from not far away.

There were both men and women, running while excitedly shouting:

”It’s here!”

”It’s coming!”

”We’ve waited so long, and it’s finally here today!”

Under the enthusiastic crowd’s attention, several employees from Quality Quidditch Supplies emerged from the shop and set up a platform at the entrance.

Ron, seeing the commotion, was about to call his friends over when he heard Sherlock’s voice in his ear:

”Ron, keep up!”

Immediately after, he saw Sherlock taking Harry’s hand with one of his own and Hermione’s with the other, already pushing into the crowd.

Ron: -_-

Well, at least this time he remembered to call me along.

Under Sherlock’s leadership, the four friends squeezed to the front and saw the shop employees solemnly place a flying broomstick—which looked extraordinary just from its appearance onto the platform.

Compared to it, even the recently released Nimbus 2001 Super seemed to pale in comparison.

”This is just a sample that came out!” a witch loudly told her child. ”But this is currently the fastest-flying broomstick in the entire world!”

”Everyone!” Just then, the manager of Quality Quidditch Supplies stepped outside and announced loudly to everyone, ”The Ireland International Club just placed an order for seven of these masterpieces—don’t miss this opportunity, folks! This is the hot commodity of this World Cup!”

Hearing the manager’s words, the onlookers collectively gasped.

Even the surrounding temperature seemed to drop several degrees.

Ron touched his nose, puzzled, and asked, ”What exactly is this thing? It sounds even more impressive than the Nimbus 2001 Super?”

”It is indeed stronger than the Nimbus 2001 Super,” Sherlock said calmly. ”It’s called the Firebolt.”

”How do you know?” Ron asked in surprise.

Sherlock pointed to the placard next to the broomstick sample: ”Look!”

Harry, Hermione, and Ron all looked over.

Just as Sherlock had said, the placard’s top clearly displayed the broomstick’s name in bold letters—Firebolt.

Below this were four paragraphs of text, briefly introducing the Firebolt’s materials, stability, speed, and price:

[This latest high-speed flying broomstick features streamlined design, premium ebony handle, diamond-polished, with each Firebolt having a unique hand-written registration number]

[The broomstick tail can be carefully selected according to personal preference from birch or hazel twigs, ground to streamlined perfection, giving the broom unparalleled balance and exquisite precision]

[The Firebolt can accelerate from standstill to 150 miles per hour in ten seconds and comes with an Unbreakable Braking Charm, demonstrating magical braking effectiveness]

[Price upon inquiry]

”Price upon inquiry.”

Seeing the last paragraph, Ron’s face turned bright red in an instant.

He didn’t dare imagine how much this Firebolt would actually cost.

Even so, he had never desired anything as intensely as he did this broomstick at this moment.

Harry’s mindset was somewhat better than his.

When he could have traded in his old broom, he hadn’t been tempted by the Nimbus 2001 Super.

Now there was certainly no need to empty his Gringotts vault to buy this Firebolt.

After all, his Nimbus 2000 had never lost a single match to date.

”It’s not that exaggerated, my dear Harry,” Sherlock said, patting his shoulder as Harry looked at him in surprise. ”Even if you really bought it, you wouldn’t spend all your money.”

”Sherlock?” Harry turned to look at his good friend in surprise. ”How do you know what I’m thinking?”

”Both you and Ron’s thoughts are written all over your faces.”

Hearing Sherlock’s words, both Harry and Ron felt somewhat embarrassed.

Hermione curiously asked, ”How do you know the Firebolt’s price when it says ’price upon inquiry’?”

”Though it says ’price upon inquiry,’ we can still deduce quite a bit.”

Hearing Sherlock say this, the three friends immediately perked up their ears, afraid to miss a single word.

”’Price upon inquiry’ doesn’t mean it has no set price.

It’s just because its price is so expensive that posting it would cause controversy.

So, to avoid this situation, the shop chose this approach—it’s a very normal practice.

Furthermore, we can make rough deductions based on its materials.

Polished ebony wood, and birch or hazel twigs that can be selected according to personal preference are not cheap materials.

Not to mention being able to accelerate from standstill to 150 miles per hour in just ten seconds, plus good braking effects.”

At this point, Sherlock paused.

He also found this data somewhat exaggerated—even if 150 miles per hour was the maximum speed, it was truly hard to imagine.

Not to mention this acceleration process taking only ten seconds.

Moreover, the instantaneous braking effect was even more incredible—being able to make a flying broomstick stop abruptly at 150 mph was... well, completely unscientific.

But again, when something can’t be explained, magic fills the gap.

”I deduce that the Firebolt’s metal components must use goblin metalwork, otherwise it would be impossible to achieve this.

Combined with the price and performance of the Nimbus 2001 Super we just saw, we can roughly calculate that the Firebolt’s price should be around 5000 Galleons.

Of course, for us, there’s really no need to purchase one.”

Even if one really wanted to buy and use it, they would definitely need robust physical fitness and superior riding skills.

Otherwise, for a thirteen or fourteen-year-old, it would be suicide.

Sherlock silently added this thought in his mind.

”5000 Galleons!”

Hearing Sherlock’s words, Ron almost cried out.

You must know that the first prize they had just won was only 700 Galleons.

This huge sum, after allowing them to travel in Egypt for a month, still had enough left over to improve their living conditions.

But now Sherlock was telling him that his father’s first prize winnings weren’t even one-seventh of this latest Firebolt’s price?

It was simply too outrageous!

He stared at the placard and swallowed, ”Ireland buying seven would cost thirty-five thousand Galleons?”

This number made Harry unconsciously lick his lips.

Actually, he didn’t know exactly how much money he had.

He only knew that the vault his parents left him had heaps of Galleons, silver Sickles, and mountains of bronze Knuts.

However, since Sherlock said that even buying this Firebolt wouldn’t empty his vault, he’d trust him.

After all, Sherlock had once accompanied him to the vault to withdraw money.

With Sherlock’s abilities, having seen it once, he would definitely have a clear idea.

”Five thousand Galleons is truly too expensive,” Hermione also sighed. ”It’s like the Rolls-Royce and Bentley of the wizarding world! But Sherlock is right—for us, there’s really no need to buy such a broomstick.”

Sherlock nodded and pointed, ”The broomstick before us is just a sample—notice it even has personalized engravings.

The mass production version eliminates this, but the premium from World Cup orders allows the 5000 Galleon price to maintain luxury positioning while staying within professional teams’ affordable range.

For ordinary people, even those well-off, there’s really no need to buy such a broomstick.

However, as a gift, under certain conditions, it would be very appropriate.”

Undoubtedly, the Firebolt’s emergence broke the three-way balance of Nimbus, Cleansweep, and Comet series in the flying broomstick market.

It was precisely for this reason that the Nimbus 2001 Super’s price increase over the Nimbus 2000 wasn’t that significant.

Sherlock had just inferred that new products were entering the market, but he hadn’t expected their performance to be so outrageous.

The Nimbus series also had exquisite business acumen, but they similarly hadn’t expected such an epoch-making product to appear.

Fortunately, the Firebolt’s production volume was very low, plus its price being several times that of other broomstick brands and its high-end positioning meant it wouldn’t impact existing broomstick market share too significantly.

In any case, since the Firebolt’s appearance, the buzz it generated remained consistently high.

Until Sherlock’s group of four arrived at the Magical Menagerie, they could still hear passersby discussing it animatedly.

”How wonderful! If I could have a Firebolt, I’d be happy even if it meant not finding a girlfriend before I’m twenty!”

Harry couldn’t help but laugh.

”Harry, what are you laughing at?”

”Ahem, I remember you said the same thing last time too.”

”That doesn’t count! Who could have expected Sherlock to actually stab a professor in the kidney! And that professor was Vold—”

In his excitement, Ron’s voice rose slightly.

As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized something was wrong and quickly stopped himself.

But by then, people around them were already looking in their direction.

He quickly pretended to look around at the scenery, acting as if nothing had happened.

Once the onlookers looked away, Ron quietly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and didn’t dare say more, silently following Sherlock’s steps with Harry and Hermione.

This time, they finally didn’t stop along the way and arrived smoothly at their destination.

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